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Cyclones in Madagascar

Cyclones occurfrequently in Madagascar. On average, they happen about 6 times a year. The hardest hit regions are Toamasina and Toliara.

The typical cyclone season depends on the summer monsoon. In the months before (May to June) and after (October to November), the most severe storms occur.

The most severe cyclone to make landfall in Madagascar in the past 12 months was »Freddy«. It reached a wind speed of up to 189 km/h on February 21, 2023 at 12:00 pm local time near Mahanoro and was 74 kilometers in diameter at the time. According to the internationally accepted Saffir-Simpson classification, this corresponded to a category 3 cyclone. On the open sea, speeds of up to 256 km/h were measured (category 5).

› The most severe cyclones in the world


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06.06.2023 © CIMSS University of Wisconsin-Madison

Most violent cyclones in Madagascar since 2018

Freddy: March 2-14, 2023

Wind speed:
max. 183 km/h
on land:
max. 89 km/h
Diameter:
max. 556 km
Air pressure:
below 957 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 3
Affected regions
Toliara

Freddy: February 6-24, 2023

Wind speed:
max. 256 km/h
on land:
max. 189 km/h
Diameter:
max. 582 km
Air pressure:
below 924 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 5
Affected regions
Toamasina
Fianarantsoa
Toliara

Cheneso: January 17-29, 2023

Wind speed:
max. 148 km/h
on land:
max. 137 km/h
Diameter:
max. 1111 km
Air pressure:
below 967 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 1
Affected regions
Antsiranana
Mahajanga
Toliara

Jasmine: April 24-28, 2022

Wind speed:
max. 100 km/h
Diameter:
max. 963 km
Air pressure:
below 984 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
Affected regions
Toliara
Fianarantsoa
Toamasina

Gombe: March 8-14, 2022

Wind speed:
max. 183 km/h
on land:
max. 94 km/h
Diameter:
max. 630 km
Air pressure:
below 959 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 3
Affected regions
Antsiranana
Toamasina
Mahajanga

Emnati: February 16-24, 2022

Wind speed:
max. 213 km/h
on land:
max. 194 km/h
Diameter:
max. 907 km
Air pressure:
below 941 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
Affected regions
Toamasina
Fianarantsoa
Toliara

Dumako: February 13-16, 2022

Wind speed:
max. 94 km/h
on land:
max. 83 km/h
Diameter:
max. 444 km
Air pressure:
below 995 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
Affected regions
Toamasina
Mahajanga

Batsirai: January 27 to February 8, 2022

Wind speed:
max. 230 km/h
on land:
max. 213 km/h
Diameter:
max. 796 km
Air pressure:
below 932 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
Affected regions
Toamasina
Fianarantsoa
Toliara

Ana: January 23-25, 2022

Wind speed:
max. 93 km/h
Diameter:
max. 148 km
Air pressure:
below 993 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm

Jobo: April 21-24, 2021

Wind speed:
max. 102 km/h
Diameter:
max. 93 km
Air pressure:
below 995 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
The cyclone did not make direct landfall in Madagascar. On April 21st, 2021 at 3:00 am it had the shortest distance at about 224 km north of Antsiranana.

Jobo: April 17-24, 2021

Wind speed:
max. 120 km/h
Diameter:
max. 352 km
Air pressure:
below 980 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 1
The cyclone did not make direct landfall in Madagascar. On April 20th, 2021 at 12:00 pm it had the shortest distance at about 138 km northwest of Antsiranana.

Iman: March 2-11, 2021

Wind speed:
max. 87 km/h
on land:
max. 70 km/h
Diameter:
max. 1185 km
Air pressure:
below 990 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
Affected regions
Mahajanga
Antananarivo
Toamasina
Fianarantsoa

Eloise: January 17-21, 2021

Wind speed:
max. 94 km/h
Diameter:
max. 370 km
Air pressure:
below 994 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
tropical storm
Affected regions
Antsiranana
Toamasina
Mahajanga

Eloise: January 11-27, 2021

Wind speed:
max. 157 km/h
on land:
max. 106 km/h
Diameter:
max. 1259 km
Air pressure:
below 965 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 2
Affected regions
Antsiranana
Toamasina
Mahajanga

Chalane: December 20, 2020 to January 4, 2021

Wind speed:
max. 124 km/h
on land:
max. 78 km/h
Diameter:
max. 982 km
Air pressure:
below 975 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 1
Affected regions
Antsiranana
Toamasina
Antananarivo
Toliara

Herold: March 12-21, 2020

Wind speed:
max. 185 km/h
on land:
max. 120 km/h
Diameter:
max. 648 km
Eye:
max. 111 km
Air pressure:
below 955 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 3
Affected regions
Antsiranana

Belna: December 2-11, 2019

Wind speed:
max. 189 km/h
on land:
max. 69 km/h
Diameter:
max. 204 km
Eye:
max. 37 km
Air pressure:
below 957 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 3
Affected regions
Toliara

Kenneth: April 21-28, 2019

Wind speed:
max. 226 km/h
Diameter:
max. 148 km
Eye:
max. 37 km
Air pressure:
below 934 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
The cyclone did not make direct landfall in Madagascar. On April 23rd, 2019 at 3:00 pm it had the shortest distance at about 144 km north of Antsiranana.

Idai: March 4-16, 2019

Wind speed:
max. 213 km/h
Diameter:
max. 185 km
Eye:
max. 74 km
Air pressure:
below 940 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
The cyclone did not make direct landfall in Madagascar. On March 13th, 2019 at 9:00 am it had the shortest distance at about 449 km east of Maintirano in Mahajanga.
Instead, the first landfall occurred near Ant in Mozambique on March 9th at 3:00 am.

Gelena: February 4-16, 2019

Wind speed:
max. 217 km/h
Diameter:
max. 222 km
Eye:
max. 74 km
Air pressure:
below 942 mbar
Saffir-Simpson scale:
category 4
The cyclone did not make direct landfall in Madagascar. On February 6th, 2019 at 9:00 pm it had the shortest distance at about 365 km northwest of Sambava in Antsiranana.


These evaluations are based on data from the National Centers for Environmental Information of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Individual data have been summarized or translated.
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